Matt, nothing wrong w/ being a Devil's advocate but it just concerns me that more and more people are actually making these kinds of claims w/ straight faces. The objective of any rule interpretation is to try to discern the drafters' intent - not to torture it for our own purposes.
"No where does it say you can change the tire pressures you run, however, you can run any tire so its interperted that you can run any pressure."
No where is there a spec for tire pressures and tires do not come w/ air in them so that is a matter completely w/i the discretion of the user - it is not an item even subject to regulation.
"where does it say you can adjust front toe settings? Perhaps I've missed something, but I don't see it. Camber changes aren't specifically allowed, it just gives a method of adjustment, presumably to return the camber settings to stock after changing springs & lowering the car?"
Likewise, there are no mandated specs re suspension settings, so you can do what you want as long as you don't have to modify the car in an illegal way to do so.
"No where does it say you can change Diff oil type, but it does say you can change diff gears & lockup methods. So is it also implied that you can change the fluid to match what is required by the clutch pack style diff you upgraded to? If you can change tire pressures by changing tires, then you can change oil type to match the diff system."
Arguably dealt w/ in 17.36: any oil and oil additives may be used. These examples are more like the gas tank - no where does it say you can run less than a full tank; therefore, you have to. Some things just aren't w/i the purview of the Rules. So, no, I do not believe that the reason you can use some other diff. fluid is because you made an allowable change in the diff, itself. It is because you can use any fluid you want anyway.
"What was asked here was if an oil cooler can be fitted. If the diff system requires cool oil, and the only way to acheive that is w/ an oil cooler, the cooler can be installed w/o mods to the case, where's the problem? The only change is the drain & vent plugs which fall under hardware."
Absolutely not! It says you can change the diff, but it does not say you can do anything else to make it work better, or at all, for that matter. This is rules creep at its worst - first you make the argument you made, next someone argues that they need cool fluid too but they can't get a cooler in the case so they should be able to use an external cooler. Or it's simply cheaper to use an external unit. Then everyone wants an external diff. cooler. Then you say if a diff. cooler is OK why not a tranny cooler? Why not allow icing down of the intake air, or fuel for that matter? And on and on. If the IT community wants to alow some things that make our cars last longer and/or run cheaper, those may be legit changes to make, but they sould be made w/ deliberation through the rules process - not on an ad hoc basis through cheating and protests.
